Two used-car dealers accused of fraudulently selling off trade-ins have lost a High Court bid to stop their criminal trials, writes Helen Bruce.

A witness set to give evidence against one of the men was to tell the court that she had been given €500 for the vehicle she traded in, having been told it was going to be scrapped.

Instead, another witness would say that he bought the same car for €5,750.

It has been alleged that contracts recording the sales were altered, with the ones given to the customers differing from those retained by the dealership.

Judge Garrett Simons said the two men had claimed that the death of a key prosecution witness – the managing director of the dealership – made it impossible for them to have a fair trial.

One of the men alleged that their boss had “signed off on everything”.

However, the judge said the managing director had given a witness statement which expressly stated that he had not consented to the actions of the accused.

Both co-accused stand charged with multiple counts of theft, forgery and using a false instrument.

The judge said that both men categorically denied the charges.

They were both employed as dealers, and the judge said the alleged offences related, in the main, to the onward sale of vehicles which had been traded in by customers who bought another vehicle from the car dealership.

“The prosecution case is that, in certain instances, the fact that the customer had traded in a vehicle was not recorded in the sales contract and the vehicle was, instead, sold privately by the accused at a profit to himself,” the judge said, in both cases.

The judge did not identify the men or the dealership, so the criminal trial would not be prejudiced.

He said a date should be fixed for the criminal trial as soon as possible.